Chapter fourteen
TwoFridaysafterthephoto shoot, the entire graphic design department had crammed into the tiny conference room on the sixth floor. Olivia stood at the back of the room, unable to find a free seat. Ron was in front, along with some other employees she hadn’t recognized. Probably C-level executives. This retirement announcement would naturally draw attention from the bigwigs. Ron had managed the department for over twenty years. She caught his eye and shot him a friendly smile, but he didn’t return it. He was fidgeting in his seat. Something was off.
Once everyone was in the room, he stood. “Everyone, I want you to meet Lynn Underwood.” He gestured to an older woman with strawberry-blonde hair in a tan pantsuit. She raised her hand and waved at the gathered designers. “Lynn is going to be your new manager. She comes to us from Food Lion …”
Olivia’s stomach lurched. What happened to her application? Her heart sank. She hadn’t even gotten so much as a standard-form rejection email, and now they’d hired someone? The least they could do was hire someone from within, like they were always talking about. This manager was coming from a grocery store? Not even anothertelevision station?
Ron droned on about how much Lynn brought to the table, and about teamwork and all that corporate bullshit Nadia was always complaining about. But she tuned him out. All she heard was the disappointment in her parents’ voices when she declared her major.
You can’t get a job with that degree.
That’s not even art!
Olivia returned to her apartment that night and took a good look around. Tiny, cramped, cheap … did she really need to suffer at this job to afford this? Paying her student loans hadn’t given her much wiggle room. Shaking her head, she looked at her phone. Rosie was working again, and Mia had a date, so girls’ night was only going to be her, Nadia, and Jade. Slipping out of her work clothes, Olivia texted them in a group message.
Olivia: Y’all feel like going out tonight?
Jade: Does that mean booze?
Olivia: Yes booze. And food.
Nadia: Are we celebrating or commiserating?
Olivia: Commiserating. They hired my new manager from a grocery store chain.
Nadia: Seriously?
Olivia: Yup.
Jade: There’s this new place called Fabled I want to check out. I hear they have killer margaritas. Let’s get dolled up then go get ourselves a few pitchers.
Nadia: How’s the food?
Jade: Food is supposed to be decent.
Olivia: I’m in.
Nadia: See you gals at 7?
Jade: It’s a date.
That left her an hour to get ready.
Fabled had dark wood and rustic charm for miles, with a bar that looked like it had been hewn from a single tree. Their specialty drinks were named after fairy tales. “Snow White” was a frozen drink with coconut rum, the “Little Red Riding Hood” looked like a shot of vodka with grenadine, and the “Goldilocks” was made with gold schlager. Jake and Caleb stuck to draft beers. They were sitting at the massive bar, sharing a plate of nachos. Caleb watched the screen above them of some guy on Twitch doing a livestream ofAssassin’s Creed.It was a gamer’s paradise. He should be in heaven, but Jake couldn’t care less.
The place was hopping, but as he picked at a chip, he swore he saw a familiar blonde head come through the door. Probably wishful thinking. It couldn’t be her. The hostess seated a group of three women at a high-top table not far from where they sat. He hadn’t dared turn his head any further, and it was so loud he couldn’t pick out their voices either. But he had to know.
Jake got creative, and turned the camera on his phone on, then flipped it around like he was going to take some douchey selfie. Angling toward the women’s table, he saw three familiar faces. Olivia, Nadia, and Jade. He hadn’t been formally introduced but Olivia had told him about how she met her squad.
She was right there. He couldn’t believe it.
“What are you doing?” Caleb looked at him like he’d grown a second head. Jake hurriedly put his phone away.
“She’s here,” he hissed. “That table behind me—the blonde.”
Caleb leaned around and discretely scoped the situation. “I see the appeal.” Jake glared at his friend, and Caleb raised his hands in defense. “Not going after your girl. Just saying I can see why you’re hung up on her.”
“It’s more than that. So much more.”
